"Ah!" Suddenly bumped aside, Song Rumeng screamed again. Steadying herself, she recognized who had bumped into her. "Second Aunt, what are you doing?"
That's right, the person who hit her was Song's mother.
The next second, Song Rumeng saw a scene that she could not believe.
With one hand, Song's mother grabbed Wang Muxiang's hair and with the other hand, slapped her twice across the face.
Wang Muxiang was stunned and bewildered by Song's mother's sudden action. She didn't resist or curse at all, just stared blankly at Song's mother.
Hearing the resounding slaps, it looked incredibly painful. Song Yueying raised an eyebrow, watching with interest as her mother disciplined the person.
"Let go of my mom! Let go of my mom right now! Second Aunt, are you crazy? You hit my mom!" Song Rumeng rushed over and grabbed her mother's arms with both hands to stop her from hitting her mother anymore.
She held on tightly, and no amount of pulling could loosen Song's mother's grip. A wicked thought surfaced in Song Rumeng's mind, and she pinched Song's mother's arm hard.
"Get away." As soon as the pain shot through her arm, Song's mother flung away Song Rumeng, who was grabbing her arm.
After throwing Song Rumeng away, Song's mother was stunned. She hadn't used much force; how could she have thrown Song Rumeng so far?
While Song's mother couldn't understand, Song Yueying knew perfectly well that the half of the red pill she had given her mother had been completely absorbed by her body.
Unexpectedly, the red pills improved Song's mother's physique, making her several times stronger than before.
Thinking about how she had taken a whole red pill but her body hadn't changed at all, Song Yueying felt frustrated again.
"Ah..." Another scream rang out, and Song Rumeng fell to the ground. The dust that rose up landed on her clothes and in her mouth, which she quickly spat out.
Her two braids hanging down her chest were also undone, and she looked disheveled and miserable.
At this moment, everyone snapped out of their astonishment and looked at Song's mother and Wang Muxiang with disbelief.
Especially Song's mother, she always gave the impression of being weak and easy to bully. Even when she went crazy and hit people with a stick, she still looked fierce.
This has never happened before: someone grabbing a person's hair with one hand and slapping them with the other.
"Zhao Dongxue, how dare you hit me?" Wang Muxiang also came to her senses. The pain from her cheek and hair being pulled told her that Zhao Dongxue did indeed dare to hit her.
Wang Muxiang was furious and tried to grab Song's mother's hands, but Song's mother slapped her away with her other hand. Unable to free her hair, she frantically scratched Song's mother's face.
Unfortunately, they still failed.
The two then started fighting, as if they were competing with each other.
Of course, it was mainly Wang Muxiang who was being beaten; her strength was no match for Song's mother's. But she didn't realize this; even with her hands red from the beating, she didn't give up fighting back.
"So what if I hit you? I've wanted to hit you for a long time." Song's mother said without batting an eye, "Wang Muxiang, I've put up with you for a long time."
"Little Shadow kicked you to save me. If you hadn't rushed over to hit me, would Little Shadow have kicked you?"
"Your daughter certainly knows how to talk, always referring to herself as an elder. You're an elder, but am I not her elder?"
"You can hit me, but I can't hit you? There's no such rule."
"Wang Muxiang, I'm telling you right now, if you ever dare to bully me or Xiao Yingzi again, I'll beat you up every time I see you."
"And you're not allowed to come to my house and steal anything again, not even under the pretense of borrowing."
For every word Song's mother said, she would slap Wang Muxiang.
The slapping sounds were very loud.
"Ahhh..." Wang Muxiang didn't hear what Song's mother said at all. Her mind was completely focused on her scalp, which was being pulled and her face, which was being slapped.
"Zhao Dongxue, let me go! Let me go right now! You damned Zhao Dongxue, let me go right now! You crazy woman, you're going to pull my hair out!"
"Let go, let go, let go quickly."
Hearing Wang Muxiang's screams, no one stepped forward to separate the two. This scene depicted Song Rumeng grabbing her mother's arm and being thrown aside.
It was deeply etched into everyone's minds.
It's best to avoid getting involved in things that could backfire; after all, nobody's a fool.
Hearing her mother's heart-wrenching screams, Song Rumeng ignored her sore bottom from the fall. She got up and pounced on her again, but this time she was more careful.
She didn't dare grab Song's mother's arm, nor did she dare to have any more malicious thoughts. She said anxiously, "Second Aunt, let go of my mother, please let go of my mother!"
Song's mother looked at Song Rumeng. She had watched this girl grow up, and the older she got, the darker her heart became. "Song Rumeng, am I only hitting your mother and not you? Are you upset about that?"
"Fine, if you're upset, just tell me, and I definitely won't hold back."
"I guarantee that you and your daughter will share both good times and bad."
Those few words made Song Rumeng's heart tremble, and her body instinctively took a step back. She wanted to save her mother, but only if she wasn't beaten.
Faced with the choice between being beaten herself and her mother being beaten, Song Rumeng decisively chose to have her mother beaten.
Not seeing Song Rumeng's actions, Wang Muxiang assumed she was intimidated by Zhao Dongxue. She threatened, "Zhao Dongxue, if you dare hit my Mengmeng, I'll fight you to the death."
"I've already hit you, why would I be afraid of hitting one more?" Song's mother scoffed, completely unfazed by Wang Muxiang's threat.
Wang Muxiang's chest heaved violently with anger; she really wanted to just roll her eyes and faint. Seeing her like this, Song's mother realized that Wang Muxiang was trying to cling to her and decisively let go.
Wang Muxiang immediately collapsed to the ground like a boneless lump of meat.
At this moment, murmurs arose from all around.
"My God! Is that Zhao Dongxue? Is that the notorious madwoman Zhao Dongxue from our village?"
"She is indeed Zhao Dongxue, but I feel she has changed from before."
“I feel the same way. Listen to what she said. Is it something a madman would say? If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to say those things.”
"Zhao Dongxue has indeed changed; she's almost unrecognizable to me. Before, she let Wang Muxiang bully her without fighting back or arguing back."
"Yes! Yes! Today, she actually hit Wang Muxiang, and hit her so badly, it's really strange."
"Have you noticed that Wang Muxiang is also strange? Isn't she very strong? How come she was grabbed by the hair by Zhao Dongxue and couldn't resist at all?"
"Who knows! But Zhao Dongxue's condition... has she gone mad again?"
"Going crazy? No way? No way?"
"It shouldn't be. I've seen her when she's insane. Right now, she doesn't seem like someone who should be insane. Could it be... that her insanity has been cured?"
"Impossible. She's been mentally ill for so many years, do you think she can be cured so easily?"
"Indeed, I've seen more than just Zhao Dongxue as a madwoman, but none of them have recovered from their madness. Just because she said a few normal things doesn't mean she's cured."
"That's true. We can't assume her insanity is cured just because she said a few normal things."
"To be fair, even if Zhao Dongxue's mental illness isn't cured, she'll still protect her daughter fiercely. If anyone bullies Song Yueying, she'll fight them to the death."
In short, the rambling conversation that had strayed from the topic ceased.
Seeing that Song's mother had intimidated Wang Muxiang and Song Rumeng into submission, Song Yueying walked up to Song Rumeng and looked her up and down with a half-smile in her eyes.
"Why...why are you looking at me like that?" Song Rumeng felt very uncomfortable being stared at.
"It depends on how big your face really is." With that, Song Yueying stopped arguing and waved the worn notebook in her hand. "Do you need me to read it out line by line?"
"No need," Song Rumeng replied without thinking. She was now so angry she wanted to tear that tattered notebook to shreds.
“Okay.” Song Yueying readily put the notebook back in her pocket. “I’ll give you five minutes to bring me what’s written in this notebook and the money.”
"I'll wait for you here."
"Hurry home and get it. Little Shadow and I are waiting for you here," Song's mother urged, shaking her hand with a threatening gesture.
Song Yueying glanced at her mother, speechless and helpless.
“I already said, I have already…” Song Rumeng hadn’t finished speaking when Song Yueying interrupted her, “No need for more nonsense, it’s a waste of time.”
"I don't have to work in the fields, so I'm not afraid of wasting time. How can you... not be afraid?"
These words instantly ignited the anger that Song Rumeng had been suppressing.
She stood rooted to the spot, gritting her teeth in resentment, her gaze towards Song Yueying seemingly venomous. She regretted it; she shouldn't have taken the chance to steal Song Yueying's wild chicken soup.
Ignoring Song Rumeng's glare that seemed to want to devour her, Song Yueying reminded her, "You have four minutes and thirty seconds left. Are you sure you want to keep wasting them?"
Song Rumeng's heart skipped a beat. She knew that if she didn't do as Song Yueying said, Song Yueying would definitely do something that would make her regret it even more.
Thinking of this, Song Rumeng turned and ran home.
Wang Muxiang's words of protest choked in her throat, and the pain on both sides of her face and scalp made her dare not do anything more rash.
Watching Song Rumeng run away, Song's mother asked her daughter, "Little Shadow, will she really return your things to you?"
“Yes.” Song Yueying nodded, then added, “But she will only return part of it. She will use the excuse that she forgot or hasn’t found it yet to leave the rest.”
“She was afraid that if I asked her to go home and look for it again, she would promise me that she would return it to me once she found it.”
Uncle Song's family is greedy by nature; they are used to robbing her and Little Shadow. If they have anything good, they will stop at nothing to steal it.
What's already been stolen can't be easily returned.
"I knew it," Song's mother said angrily. "Their whole family is rotten. The old ones bully you, and the young ones deceive you. They're all scoundrels."
Hearing Song's mother scolding her family, Wang Muxiang didn't dare to argue back, and could only curse in her heart.
Soon, Song Rumeng came over carrying some things.
Song Yueying's gaze swept lightly over the items she was holding: a few pieces of clothing, a few pairs of pants, and a pair of small leather shoes.
Her clothes and trousers were extremely old, and her leather shoes had a tear in the upper. Song Yueying's expression was calm and indifferent. She said that Song Rumeng would repay part of it.
They also underestimated Song Rumeng's shamelessness.
Upon approaching Song Yueying, Song Rumeng explained, "Cousin, I don't remember how many things I lent you. I do remember some, but I can't find them."
"I can only return these to you for now. I'll return the rest to you once I find them."
Song's mother's eyes widened. What Song Rumeng said was exactly the same as what Xiao Yingzi had said.
The way everyone looked at Song Rumeng changed. Through this incident, they wanted to re-evaluate the impression Song Rumeng had left on them.
"Alright then." Song Yueying sighed and looked at her mother. "Mom, do you think I should keep these junk?"
“No,” Song’s mother replied firmly.
“My daughter and I are truly of one mind.” Song Yueying looked at Song Rumeng, her eyes instantly turning sharp. “Did I not express myself clearly? Or did you not understand what I meant?”
Song Rumeng's brow twitched, and she quickly used the hand that was holding the shoes to hold the clothes. She stretched out her other hand in front of Song Yueying, and opened it to reveal a watch.
The watch left behind by the original owner's father.
“This is the watch your second uncle left you,” Song Rumeng explained. “Look, it’s perfectly intact. I really only borrowed it to tell the time; I didn’t use it for anything else.”
Song Yueying took the watch, didn't even look at it, and handed it directly to her mother.
Taking the watch from her arm, Song's mother's hands trembled slightly, her eyes reddened as she stared intently at the timepiece. Seeing this, Song Yueying knew the watch was genuine.
This is the watch left behind by the original owner's father.
"I've returned the watch, but I don't want your clothes and shoes anymore since you've worn them out. Just give me the money in return." Before Song Rumeng could say anything, Song Yueying took her mother's hand and turned to go back.
The moment the courtyard gate closed, Song Rumeng and Wang Muxiang's faces contorted in rage, their eyes flashing with murderous intent.
In the courtyard.
Song Yueying watched as her mother walked lightly toward the main room, looking somewhat absent-minded. Understanding her mother's joy at having regained what she had lost, she didn't follow.
Entering the kitchen, I saw a tall figure sitting on a small stool used for tending the fire. His crisp green military uniform made him appear as upright as a pine tree.
It was Qi Yanjue. Song Yueying asked in surprise, "When did you get back?"
When Song's mother said he had gone out, she thought he had gone back to the county.
"I just got back not long ago," Qi Yanjue replied calmly, getting up and walking over to her. He reached into the pocket of his military uniform jacket, pulled out a cloth bag, and handed it to her.
"For me?" Song Yueying asked knowingly, without taking the cloth bag.
Qi Yanjue smiled and nodded, saying, "These wild peaches I picked from the mountains are quite sweet."
"Wild peaches." Song Yueying had eaten many kinds of peaches, even flat peaches, but she had never eaten wild peaches.
Qi Yanjue opened the cloth bag, revealing several wild peaches the size of eggs. Half red and half green, they emitted an enticing peach fragrance.
Decades later, the peaches had little fragrance, but Song Yueying liked them at first sight. She reached out and picked up a peach, her fingertips touching the rough calluses on Qi Yanjue's palm.
Song Yueying's heart skipped a beat. She picked up the peach and quickly turned around, saying, "I'll go wash the peach."
Watching her retreating figure, which seemed to be fleeing in panic, Qi Yanjue curled the corners of his lips.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com